


Screwed

by yeaka



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Ficlet, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 15:55:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13616703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: The party jumps to conclusions; Prompto jumps to save them.





	Screwed

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Fill for anon’s “I want to see Prompto know something that no one else in the party does, and his knowledge helped them tremendously. They need to break in somewhere and Prompto is the only one who can pick a lock? Some obscure natural pain remedy? How to buy enough food for four people on the almost zero gill they have? The chocobos aren't cooperating because they don't like some random thing come on guys everyone knows that, right?” prompt on [the FFXV kinkmeme](https://ffxv-kinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/4398.html?thread=7567406#cmt7567406/).
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own Final Fantasy XV or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

They’re fortunate, at least, that it happened near the top of the hill, so Noctis can see far enough without having to go too far on foot. Prompto’s nowhere to be found, but he spots Gladiolus in the distance, and after plenty of waving and whistling, Gladiolus steers his chocobo around and heads back up the well-worn path. They cleared it of monsters on their way up, but it’s starting to get dark, and they need a plan before the daemons spawn. For once, Dave couldn’t give them very clear coordinates on the dog tags they’re hunting for, and they let themselves spread too far out. Noctis is relieved to find Gladiolus still going strong, though he and Ignis ran into trouble. 

Gladiolus dismounts when he’s close enough, getting down to Noctis’ level, or as close as he can get with his extra head of height. He doesn’t ask if Noctis found the tags, just grunts, “Where’s your bird?”

“With Ignis’,” Noctis answers, turning back the way he came and quietly admitting, “It’s... not good.”

“What do you mean?” Gladiolus’ chocobo follows behind them, chirping brightly and trying to nuzzle at Gladiolus’ hair, like they often do with Prompto. That makes Noctis’ stomach twist—Prompto’s still out there somewhere, and if his bird’s gone down too, and he’s trapped, alone... they need to find him before night falls.

First, they have to reunite the three they have, and Noctis explains as he goes, “Ignis and I weren’t far from each other when our chocobos started acting strange—they threw us off and practically collapsed onto the ground, rolling over.”

“Belly up?” Gladiolus asks, before adding Noctis’ own fears: “What, like dead fish?”

“Yeah.”

He can practically _feel_ Gladiolus’ frown. “We can’t afford for them die to out here, Noct. This place is crawling with MTs, and once the daemons come out...”

Noctis bites off, “I know.” It galls him to think about leaving the chocobos, but he knows they’ll have to once they find Prompto—it’s unlikely they’ll be able to make it back to town on foot, but they have to try—it can’t end here. It just _can’t_.

Like reading his silent dread, Gladiolus mutters, “Maybe Ignis can fix them.” Noctis nods, but Gladiolus has to go on, “Damn. If it was just one chocobo, maybe you and Prompto could’ve shared, but if we’ve just got two... all four of us can’t make it back. There’s no way one could take three, and I’m more then enough for one...” 

Noctis bitterly repeats, “ _I know_ ,” which is code for _shut up_ , because he doesn’t want to have to think about leaving any of them behind. He knows that’s what they’ll opt for if it comes to it—sending the _prince_ to safety, but Noctis won’t _let them_. A stray squawk pulls his head up, and Gladiolus’ chocobo jolts out from behind him, streaking up the path and behind the rocks. Noctis wonders if it’s running to say a final goodbye to its friends.

Noctis and Gladiolus are quiet as they approach the frantic noises and step around the bend, into the little clearing between the rocks where Ignis and Noctis had let their chocobos lie. A swell of tremendous relief bubbles up in Noctis’ chest when he realizes that Prompto’s with them, kneeling between the two birds with a hand on either one’s stomach.

He’s rubbing them furiously and... smiling?

And the birds aren’t crying out their dying breaths, but almost... giggling... under Prompto’s expert attentions. Gladiolus and Noctis both halt in their tracks. Ignis is standing over Prompto, curiously eyeing the commotion. The chocobos are squirming on the ground, _kweh_ -ing and flailing their legs and wings. Gladiolus’ and Prompto’s chocobos hop from foot to foot as they watch on, clearly eager for their turn.

Gladiolus is the first to ask, “What’s happening?”

“It appears ‘belly up’ doesn’t mean quite the same thing for a chocobo that it does for fish,” Ignis answers. He’s barely finished when Prompto snorts.

“Did you guys seriously think they were _dying_? Oh man, I’m never gonna let you live this one down!” Prompto punctuates his point by scratching under one of the chocobos’ chin, and it squeals in delight and rubs its beak against Prompto’s thigh. Prompto chuckles, “They just wanted some affection, geez!”

Noctis is too numb to speak. He’d seriously thought they were dying, and his retinue would fall with them. Gladiolus growls, “Well, how were we supposed to know that?”

“Well, you could’ve asked your resident genius before panicking,” Prompto teases, even sticking out his tongue. It’s an ironic suggestion, given that Noctis _had_ asked Ignis what to do, but apparently the party’s brains aren’t all allocated how he thought. 

Lifting a hand to his head, Gladiolus mutters, “I can’t believe you were actually _useful_!”

Flushing and pausing his efforts, Prompto snaps, “Shut up!” One of the chocobos wails in distress and pecks his hip; he hastily returns to petting it. Then he adds smugly, “Actually, while you losers were losing your shit over your attention-starved chocobos, _my_ chocobo helped me find the tags.” Ignis is the one who holds them out, which is just as well, because both of Prompto’s hands are quite busy.

“I’d say he was a fair bit more than useful,” Ignis adds. “It would’ve been rather embarrassing to be stranded out here at night, and meet our end over a mere misunderstanding.”

Prompto croons, “What would you guys ever do without me?”

Gladiolus snorts, but Noctis is just sort of... relieved. And now that he looks at his adorable ride and sees how _happy_ it is under Prompto’s care, the whole thing does seems silly. He drifts closer and comes to kneel down between them, sitting in front of Prompto. Prompto grins at him and switches both hands to Ignis’ bird, while Noctis gives Prompto a fond smile in return and attends his own steed.

Above them, Gladiolus huffs, “Unbelievable.”

But Ignis sighs, “We can afford another ten minutes, and then I hope our chocobo-whisperer can get them back on their feet.”

Prompto proudly chirps, “Give me five.” And Noctis helps make it so.


End file.
